After the sudden death of Warren Harding on August 2, 1923, Calvin Coolidge’s father, a Vermont farmer who served as the rural district’s justice of the peace and notary public, swore his son in as America’s thirtieth president. Coolidge (1872–1933) had attained national celebrity in 1919 when, as governor of Massachusetts, he broke the Boston police strike, declaring that "there is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time." At the 1920 Republican convention, over the objection of party leaders, he was made the vice-presidential nominee by acclamation.

Miguel Covarrubias’s 1938 caricature, Radio Talent, depicted a cloud of popular celebrities who came to fame during the heyday of American radio broadcasting. At the depths of the Depression, radio’s two major networks—NBC and CBS—provided a cultural glue that helped bind the country together in the worst of economic times. Because everyone listened to the same thing, the vast listening audience shared a mainstream culture that was broadcast daily. Programs radiating both high and low forms of entertainment wafted through the airwaves and reached not only big cities but also small towns everywhere. Here, Covarrubias captured the most famous stars "on the air," including Jack Benny, Rudy Vallee, W. C. Fields, Burns and Allen, Kate Smith, Benny Goodman, Arturo Toscanini, and Bing Crosby.